By George Robbins
There were many films that people have been looking forward to this year that no one will really have a chance to see due to the pandemic. Most movie theaters are still shut down and are only going to start seeing reopenings within the next month or so. This doesn’t help people because it means that they will not get to see the movies that they were hoping for. Beyond just theaters being closed, there is also the issue of studios pushing back the release dates of their films because it would be too much of a risk to release them any time soon. Thus many movies from the beginning half of the year that couldn’t be shown due to the pandemic will now be releasing some time later in the year and even this may not end up happening.
Unfortunately, it seems as though the pandemic issue will be ongoing for quite some time and in the United States it has become the worst. With a second wave of the virus hitting, states such as California have had to start shutting things down again. This is a risk that many movie studios are not willing to take and it means that even if theaters reopen and studios want to show their films, what happened at the start of the pandemic could happen again. This means that they would rather wait things out and see if anything gets better before they try and put their movies out to the public. Hence, many studios that had films releasing later this year have pushed their film releases into next year.
One of the bigger releases that was meant to come out later this year was ‘Godzilla vs. Kong.’ The upcoming giant monster, or kaiju, film was supposed to feature a massive fight between the titular monsters and possibly give us a new “King of the Monsters.” Originally the film was supposed to release in November of this year, but after the second wave of the coronavirus hit, its release date was pushed to May of 2021. This entry in Legendary’s MonsterVerse was a film that many people were looking forward to seeing. Even though people will have to wait longer to see the movie, there is still plenty going on with the film to warrant attention. People will be the most excited when the trailer for the film drops, so it was a good thing they held off on the trailer’s release.
Even if the studio held off on giving more details about the movie until we reach a date that is closer to the movie’s actual release, information still ended up being potentially leaked. The toy lines for movies often go hand-in-hand with the movies by releasing figures of characters from the films. Most of the time, the figures released represent characters that could play a potentially large role in the film and this is what people are currently latching onto. The newest figures to be put up are the returning Skullcrawlers from the ‘Kong: Skull Island‘ movie and a new monster that is going by the name of Warbat. Alongside the reveals by the toy lines of a new Titan named Nozuki and the return of a classic from the Toho series, Mechagodzilla, these new reveals show us that there is a lot in store for audiences when the film premieres next year.
By George Robbins
The film adaptation of the novel ‘Gone with the Wind‘ is considered a culturally significant film that captures a time period in U.S. history. There has been a lot of controversy surrounding the film due to the portrayal of the slaves in the movie. Unfortunately, the movie is based in the South during the time period of the Civil War and it also takes place at a plantation of all things. All of these things made people petition for the film to be taken off of HBO Max back in the early part of June and the film was taken off of their roster. Like the phrase goes, “There is no such thing as bad publicity,’ and so the movie ended up in the news and this peaked the interest for a lot of different people. This is what led to the film being placed at the top of Amazon’s charts almost immediately after it was taken off the HBO Max movie list.
Instead of simply leaving the movie off of their service, HBO Max put the movie back up about two weeks later with text at the forefront of the film. The opening text now states that the movie was a product of a different era, a bad one, but one that should not be forgotten. By trying to get rid of the film, it isn’t erasing racism but instead trying to erase history and this is even worse. Beyond the racism depicted in the film, the movie itself is regarded as one of the most culturally significant films of all time. This movie is not only a reminder for future generations to be better, but also it is just a very well made film that tells a story that has echoed through the generations to modern day.
All of this being said, the film is very old since it was made back in 1939. At this point in time, it has been over 80 years since the initial release of the film and almost none of the people who worked on the film were really left. The actors in the film were all young, but time takes its toll and until very recently there was only one remaining actress who starred in the film. Actress Olivia de Havilland played one of the biggest roles in the film and unfortunately she had passed away this previous Saturday from natural causes in her home. She will be remembered by most for her role as an actress in ‘Gone with the Wind,’ but also for her legendary career as an actress in general. She was around since the so-called ‘Golden Age of Hollywood’ and was among the last from the era, so she will certainly be missed.
By George Robbins
Warner Media’s ‘Justice League’ movie is regarded by many to be a film that was not what fans expected it to be. Much of the film felt different from how fans expected it to be which made many think that the film was interfered with in some way. Even if it wasn’t interfered with, the fact remains that part way through the production, director Zack Snyder had to step down from the directing chair. His family had to unfortunately cope with a family crisis and he could no longer remain director so it was handed over to Joss Whedon. After Whedon took over as director it became known that there were many reshoots that were done to the film before its release. This is why many fans decided that it really was studio interference and they petitioned for Snyder to release his film as intended.
Just a couple of months ago, Snyder confirmed that he was actually working on a director’s cut of the film based on his vision of how the film would work. This version of the film was referred to by fans simply as the Snyder Cut and it was speculated to have existed by fans for a couple of years. That being said, the Snyder Cut version of the film is only now being worked on and it will end up on HBO Max some time next year. What needed to be done before the movie released was that Snyder has to put in his own footage that he planned on using and he also has to put in his own VFX. He was given a budget to work on the new cut of the film, but that didn’t really answer a question people had.
This past weekend was the weekend that the Comic-Con @ Home convention had taken place and it saw a few different things being discussed. Among those things was the Snyder Cut which was thought unlikely because Snyder is attending DC’s own event next month, DC FanDome. It would be expected that this is where we would see more information about the film. However, it would seem that Snyder just wanted to share what he could about his upcoming release. One of the big questions on people’s minds was whether he was getting paid to work on this new version of the film. The answer to which was no and he was, in fact, making the movie of his own volition and he is not getting paid for working on it.
By George Robbins
This past weekend was Comic-Con, but not the one that people have known since its original inception. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, Comic-Con was effectively cancelled for this year, at least the usual way that it is held. This year, in order to make sure there was at least something made available, a special event known as Comic-Con @ Home was made up to cover for the lack of an in-person convention. Comi-Con is an event that usually sees thousands of fans from many different backgrounds gathering together in one place. Normally fans would have been able to meet some of their favorite writers or actors who are participating in some form of marketing for their comics or movies. This is obviously dangerous because of the virus as conventions are often considered petri dishes of disease anyway.
The Comic-Con @ Home convention was available to the public as a free online event where people would still get to see the things that they would have at the live event. They also had a digital marketplace for fans to purchase any kind of memorabilia that they may have wanted to get from the live event. At the convention, or actually, on the convention it was announced that there would be panels for many different creators to show off their latest work or discuss things with fans. Unfortunately Marvel Studios declined a panel for this year as they didn’t really have much to show to the general public for this year. The Star Wars franchise also did not manage to make its way to the convention and also skipped it for this year.
One of the panels that did manage to still make it to the convention was the one for the upcoming movie ‘Bill & Ted Face the Music.’ This upcoming film is the third outing for the titular characters and it is a film that many have waited years for. The ‘Bill & Ted’ series is a cult series of films that shows the adventures of two lovable but unintelligent guys who just want to live their lives. The characters, played by Alex Winter and Keanu Reeves respectively, have been prophesied to save the world and create a society of laid back people devoted to music. This is what we were left to believe at the end of the second film, but it appears the story is not yet finished. The movie follows the characters and their children as they go on one more adventure.
Those who have waited years for the film are probably wondering why it took so long and what happened on set. These questions were asked during the panel at Comic-Con this past weekend and some of them managed to receive answers. Star Alex Winter admitted that, at first, he felt that another sequel was not really worth making to begin with and he wasn’t alone as others involved with the project felt the same. On top of that, things like actor William Sadler who plays the Grim Reaper in the series managed to sprain his wrist on set while filming a hopscotch scene also happened. The panel made a point to tell people about the work that went into the film and to get people excited for its release September 1st in both theaters and On-Demand.
By George Robbins
Marvel Studios has a lot of work ahead of them over the course of the next year to year-and-a-half. They have been wanting to work on their upcoming projects in some way for the past few months, but alas they could not due to the new rules in place. Filming has become fairly difficult for any studios, though it is still a possibility given that they follow the new production rules that have been put into place. This has allowed projects like ‘Avatar 2‘ to get back to work back in May and gave James Cameron a chance to work on his film even more. On top of this, projects such as ‘The Batman‘ and ‘Mission: Impossible 7‘ are going to also be starting their productions up again soon. With this in mind, studios like Marvel Studios have a lot to think about moving forward.
One of the biggest blows the studio had to deal with just after the pandemic began was the fact that the film ‘Black Widow‘ was supposed to have released. Instead, the release date for the film was moved to November of this year and people now have to wait in order to see the newest film. This has essentially made all of their marketing seemingly go to waste and they probably won’t run another campaign. Many studios are doing this now because there has really yet to be any new releases in movie theaters. Any releases that were supposed to have happened over the course of the next month have pretty much been delayed again. This is starting to look bad for the studio because it seems like movies through to the end of the year are having their release dates pushed into next year.
All of this negativity doesn’t really help anybody though, so Marvel is still going to be moving forward on their other productions. One of those new productions is ‘Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.’ Before they could really get into production in regards to the film, the pandemic hit and they couldn’t start working on the movie. Now that other productions have managed to start up again, the studio is doing the same for the upcoming film. Although the studio is behind due to not being able to work on the films for months, they are now against the clock as they want to get the film out by some time next year. Unfortunately, if things continue the way that they are, they will not even get to premiere ‘Black Widow’ this year. That isn’t great, but it could give them some leeway in taking their time to make sure the film turns out well.
‘Shang Chi’ isn’t the only film that they have in production as they almost always have something being worked on. Starting next summer, they will be starting production for ‘Ant-Man 3’ despite it not even being listed as an upcoming film. One of the questions on people’s minds after all of this was when production would start on the upcoming ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’ which was announced as an upcoming film. According to those working on the film, they are eyeing an early 2021 time-frame to start production of the movie in Australia. They are hoping that things with the pandemic will clear up enough by then that starting the production around then will be relatively simple. As of now, after being delayed by the pandemic, ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’ is set to release in February of 2022.
By George Robbins
Theaters have had a rough go of things over the course of the past few months due to the pandemic which began back in the middle of March. Movie theaters, like all other businesses in the entertainment industry have suffered from not being able to draw in crowds or allow gatherings due to the pandemic. Without people strolling through their doors, theaters have had absolutely no income and many people who worked for them have been out of work. In the time since that announcement was made that this was actually a pandemic, theaters have been consistently trying to reopen their doors to the public. In some places, they have actually managed to do so, but theater chains have yet to make any attempts to do so.
Though I say they haven’t made an attempt to reopen their doors to the public, this actually isn’t entirely true. Theater chains have been trying consistently, to come up with a date that they will actually be able to open their doors up again. The thing that differentiates them from privately owned theaters is the fact that chain must at least somewhat work in unison. In order to bring in a proper amount of income, theaters must be open in multiple locations as well as be able to sell out seats. Both the former and the latter have been difficult for companies to do because of the state of the nation right now.
When a second round of the coronavirus hit in the United States, many movies studios decided to push back the release dates of their movies to either late this year or some time next year. This has resulted in many movie theaters deciding to keep their doors closed until such a time that they can show new films to audiences. Although theaters that have been open have been showing films, they are all older films and don’t draw in large enough crowds. Other than theaters waiting for new releases, there is also the issue that many states are in a state of lockdown where theaters aren’t even allowed to be opened until there is a better handle on the virus. Theater chains were going to reopen at the end of July, but it seems that this is not something bound to happen.
Recently, the theater industry took even more of a blow when Warner Bros. announced that they would not be releasing ‘Tenet’ in August. Not only did they announce that they would not be releasing the film in mid-August like originally planned, but also that the release date is now undetermined. Essentially this means that the movie’s release date has been delayed indefinitely until WB decides it is a safe climate for them to be able to release the film. This movie was one that theaters have been following with their opening dates due to it being an upcoming Christopher Nolan blockbuster. Despite the film no longer being on the docket for release, AMC theaters seems to be going for the risky play by reopening their doors to the public by mid-to-late August. We will get to see soon whether this will work in their favor or be a hindrance to them.
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